1 Baby = 15 Mobile Phones?

Every 4 seconds a child is born… and 15 mobile phones are sold.

This startling stat, attributed to The Economist was shared by  Coca Cola’s Wendy Clark SVP  Integrated Marketing Communications and Capabilities in an Ad Age Digital Conference speech. Of all the numbers flying around the growth of mobile, this stat somehow eclipses other data in underscoring the urgency and importance of building a mobile strategy.

Maybe it’s the visual of an innocent baby incongruously imposed beside the harsh technical reality of mobile technology.  Or the contrasting emotion of a child’s birth with the cold metallic glint of smartphone design.  Either way, it gives a jolt that makes you sit up in your seat and take notice. And marketers need to take notice.  Marketing has never kept pace with consumer technology adoption as evidence by the well documented and dramatic lag in Internet media investment compared to consumer use of the internet. So if not a jolt, then maybe there’s a need for a taser?

The other stats quoted by Ms Clark are equally illuminating.  Take the time to check this presentation out.  In seven minutes she does an exemplary job of presenting all the pieces of the successful music based  Wave Your Flag campaign for Coca Cola.  It’s a classic marketing case for the Madison and Vine perspective of effectively combining advertising and entertainment.  And it’s an inspiring case for continuing to push to the next technology, the next touchpoint and the next consumer.  Face it baby, you have to grow the mobile strategy!